Something Wicked This Way Comes
by D1SS1DENT
Summary: "When the blazing sun is gone,When the nothing shines upon,Then you show your little light,Twinkle, twinkle, all the night." - Aegis VII, final transmission.
1. Prologue

**Prologue: The Last Call**

It was her birthday this evening, and she felt entitled to a free drink at least. Just one, she wasn't begging him to pour the whole damn bottle of champagne down her throat. Just one fucking drink and she'd be happy. But Morgan, the cheap bastard, had a heart of stone, and you couldn't pry a credit from his cold dead fingers. She gave the bartender a venomous look again as she approached with one of her girlfriends, intent on getting her due.

The Bomb was packed tonight, the zero-g dance floor resembled nothing more than a school of fish as the dancers spun, twirled and snaked their way between each other beneath the flickering kaleidoscope of the laser light and neon. For those not so inclined to the nuances of zero gravity, there was a concentric circle of disco floor, for the more grounded to enjoy. It was one of the best clubs on Aegis VII, but there was hardly any competition when there was a grand total of four between the sixty-thousand or so colonists.

Carah had dropped numerous hints to her friends and co-workers as to where she wanted her "surprise party" to be that year. Reminiscing over how great the chicken fingers and fries were (crispy and golden) to the colourful terraces of orchids and ferns that surrounded the booths (so classy). And then there was the bar. The CEC had ensured that all its workers were more than happy to work and stay in the ass end of the universe, by providing them with just about the best of everything.

Now it wasn't everyday that a girl turned twenty-four. And it sure as hell wasn't everyday that fifty people blew their brains out in public. After the "incident" in Union Square, more and more people had turned to alcohol or other vices to keep their minds occupied, and to keep those little voices that seemed to be crawling into so many heads at bay. Carah wanted to celebrate, sure, but she also wanted to get as hammered as she possibly could with the best booze money could buy. And she sure wasn't going to pay when she knew the owner.

She and her friend Talia had discussed with the rest of the gang, after a dinner, and an embarrassing round of "Happy Birthday" and cake (during which time a few hundred other strangers decided to join in on their awful singing); the possibility of getting their hands on a bottle of Arcadian Ambrosia, which they had spied beneath the bar the week before. Morgan was saving it, Carah was sure, for whenever the blowhards from CEC came down to Aegis City to congratulate themselves on the 37th successful Planetcrack (Intently ignoring of course the Wanat Disaster of 11 years prior). At this point in time however, Carah was pretty certain that whatever victory dance was being done, it was happening in orbit; there was a snowball's chance in hell that some rich exec and his prissy wife would risk getting cannibalized by some Unitologists on the rampage.

The bar was packed, waitresses passing out drinks as quickly as the credits were being tossed. Morgan had noticed their approach, and was busily inspecting a bottle of Supernova Champagne, seemingly enthralled by the vineyards of Alpha Centauri. Talia slinked over in her black dress, flashing that million dollar smile at him.

"Hey Morgan, whatcha up to?"

"Inspecting all the vintage, doesn't help to be prepared for when the Ex's come down here to party," he replied curtly, thumb tracing lines across the ingredients.

"Why do that down here with all us crazies when they could do that perfectly fine on the largest ship in the fleet?" Carah asked, twirling a bit of tinsel in her hair.

He flashed a knowing smile at her "Well we can all take comfort in knowing that you and your friends will find some way to drink whatever's left."

"Morgan," Talia said, pressing a hand against her breast and lowering the neck of her dress somewhat "You kill me sometimes. We've been coming here for two years, we're friends right?"

The scowl he bounced back at them spoke volumes, but Talia took the pass and ran with it "... Loyal customers who spend their hard earned credits in your fine little establishment here. Now Carah here, turns twenty-four today, and what I think would really top her day off would be a nice slick bottle of Ambrosia."

"Talia, you can get that stuff by the gallon at any bar on the planet."

"Sure we can, but there doesn't seem to be too much of the Arcadian stuff floating around now is there? And you really don't expect Carah to be drinking some cheap shit from The Sprawl on her special day now do you?"

"How the hell did you two know I had Arcadian here?" Exasperated he set the bottle onto the counter and turned to face them, resting both palms on the bar top.

"Same way I know that it ain't my eyes you're looking at honey, you're fucking obvious," she laughed. "Now why don't you give Carah here a glass on the house and we'll see about maybe a kiss or two from some of the ladies over there?"

"Carah, do you two know how much a bottle of this stuff costs? You couldn't afford the fucking import! Three gees. You want something free? You can take a look at the bottle, because that's a close as you'll ever get."

"Ugh, honestly Morgan, if you're going to be so damn immature about it then we'll take our business somewhere else," cleavage was quickly hidden, and any illusion of their flirtatious facade quickly melted with anger.

"My god, we've known each other since colonization and what, you can't even give me a drink on my birthday? I forgot why we went to the _other club_ last year."

"Hey," Morgan raised his hands in defence "Arcadian's expensive shit to come by, especially out here on the fucking verge. You want something sweet? Something good, I've got booze from a hundred colonies under here, from Earth to Olduvai, I'll get you a bottle of the good stuff..."

Talia's eyebrows were threatening to meld with hairline by that point.

"Something that won't taste like paint thinner I hope? Last time you gave me something for free I was bedridden and Doc Albert asked me if I'd been chugging engine cleaner."

"That stuff's good for ya, cleans out your system, gets rid of impurities, you'll be pushing two hundred when you get your dirt bath if you keep drinking that stuff."

"And I'll be twenty-five by the time I get any drink at this rate Morgan," Carah sighed.

"Give me a sec, damn girl no wonder you're single."

Morgan quickly popped below the bar, narrowly avoiding a double set of heart-stopping glares from the two women. The dim lighting of the bar made it difficult to find anything below the counter. Something smelt foul, the sickly sweet scent of decay seemed to billow out of the vents. And suddenly he felt as though he'd sunk his hands into a pile of ground beef, a cold slimy substance covered all of the bottles closest to the back. He grasped one and pulled out, lifting it triumphantly before the Carah and Talia, who quickly stepped back, eyes narrowed in disgust.

Perturbed, Morgan quickly glanced at his discovery.

"What the fuck is this shit?" Morgan yelled, holding the bottle of Vodka at arm's length.

Something that resembled an awful cross of vomit and a tumour had snaked its way around the base of the bottle, bubbling up in little growths. Little back worms crawled desperately from the goop. Falling onto the counter, and sidling towards Carah and Talia, who both backed a foot away.

"What the fuck Morgan? Is that shit mould? Christ, I just got through eating here!"

Even over the thrum of the techno, Carah's voice spread the news to at least a dozen other surrounding tables, a wide range of spitting suddenly broke out in the vicinity. A man and his wife who moments before had been enjoying an overpriced steak coughed their meals back onto their plates before glaring venomously in their direction

"God, it's everywhere, it's coming out of the fucking vents! What is this shit?" Morgan set the bottle onto the countertop, and looked over to a nearby waitress "Lisa, what's the nearest Megavent from here?"

"14," she replied, bending down to eye the growth that had spread across the bottom counter "But this wasn't here last night, I swear to god. I mean it can't have been here more than an hour ago! I used some of the glasses on this shelf." She reached forward and tried to wrench one out, the top merely snapped from the base "It's really in there isn't it, and it's spreading... What in god's name is this stuff?"

"Call up maintenance down there, get them to do a sweep or something, if this shit is blocking up all the filtration systems, then we have a serious problem."

Lisa quickly leant over her register's holographic display, and began to scroll through the communication numbers. Wireless communications registered where one was in the city, sector-by-sector, at all times, so Lisa was rather disheartened to discover a single RIG working in the maintenance shafts beneath their feet. One Richard Avery, who took every opportunity to hit on her, and always tipped poorly. She quickly tapped his ID, glancing down the bar towards Morgan who was fending off a dozen irate customers, demanding refunds.

Richard's sweaty face quickly popped up, glancing at her inquisitively "Well, well! Look who's finally come to their senses baby!"

"Richard, there's something coming out the vents up here and I was kind of hoping you knew something about it down on your end? Is there some sort of issue we should all be aware of?"

"Not that I know of Babe, just me and the robots down on this end."

"The vents are kind of integral to our operations here, air quality's rather intermittent out there, shouldn't you be monitoring it?" she said exasperated.

"Well you see honey, in case you don't watch the news at all, some douche bag murdered a few dozen of my co-workers last week, so we've been rather short staffed lately. And considering the fact that everyone else either phoned in sick with the crazy or is out getting trashed, there's not many of us doing any real work here," he replied icily.

"I know, I know... Listen I'm sorry, it's packed up here tonight. The party's been in full swing since planetcrack. I'm just in a bitch of a mood, I haven't had a decent sleep in what feels like a lifetime and I ju-"

"Oi! Lisa, this isn't a social call here, what's the problem?" Morgan flourished his arms at the ventilation "Do they know what our little issue here is?"

"I'm sorry Morgan, just give us a minute okay, they're kind of short staffed considering all the engineers are well... " Lisa raised an arm in a vain attempt to block the scintillating strobes of light, and scanned the crowd "Well actually I think most of them are _**here**_, _drunk _off _**your**_ booze..."

"Just figure out what this shit is already."

Lisa glanced down at the video call "You know which junction we're above right?"

"I'm already on my way, the 12-14 right?"

"Yeah, just hurry the hell over there, Morgan's trying to avoid refunds."

"Alright ladies and gentlemen! We all having a good time tonight or what?" The DJ cried from his booth above the dance floor, waving at his fans in the audience. A profusion of agreements and cheers resounded back at him. "Did we do a good job or what tonight? Thirty seven planet cracks now ladies and gents! We made history tonight!"

Screams of approval were given in response.

"And speaking of history, I have a wonderful little number to grind your hearts out to tonight, this is Surprised, by Sara Nova!"

The crowd cheered, arms waving, feet pounding as the strobe lights fractured each moment in time.

"_If you could see me now_

_What would you say?_

_Did I waste my life_

_Begging you to stay?_

_Your scathing voice_

_It's in my head_

_And with those shards of glass_

_Left in my bed..."_

She spun in little circles through the air, thirty feet above the dance floor, competing with a dozen others to keep her little corner of the ceiling between her and her boyfriend. He just held onto her hips, that stupid grin on his face as he moved in to kiss her again. She slithered away, enticing him towards a nearby vent, her hips gyrating beneath a thin satin dress. Someone's wine floated carelessly through the air, splattering against her arm's as she twirled. She reached over with the other hand to wipe it off. Red, like blood.

"_...and now that I'm here_

_You'll never let me go_

_And now that I'm here_

_You're gonna let me know_

_That no matter where I hide..._

_No matter how I lie..._

_There is no disguise..._

_Cause you caught me surprised..."_

She glanced back at the vent behind her, and for an instant the pinpricks of eyes glistened in the dark before they retreated. She drew her boyfriend closer, pausing to look behind her every few moments.

She had about four minutes to live...


	2. Timeline

**Timeline: The Advent of Humanity 2030-2413**

**"There are those who have accused Humanity of being a Monopoly; that statement is incorrect. Humanity has never sought to be a Monopoly, there is simply no one capable of competing with us." - President Helena Vidal, Systems Alliance.**

**May 22****nd****, 2030:** UNS Ares and her crew of forty enter Martian orbit, a combined effort of Earth's G20 Nations, the Ares represents a new age of peace and cooperation for Earth's people.

**May 25****th****, 2030: **Altaira Cevantes becomes the first human to walk upon the surface of Mars, planting the flag of the United Nations in Utopia Planitia. Her first words upon walking the surface "Behold, the people are as one, and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do," reach seven billion viewers on Earth.

**June 22****nd****, 2037: **The first Artificial Intelligence, ATLAS, is brought online.

**July 20****th****, 2069:** Armstrong City is officially incorporated on Luna as the first permanent settlement on Earth's moon, on the centennial anniversary of the first lunar landing. Construction on Aldrin, Collins and Copernicus cities begins. Within a decade the Lunar population will be a hundred thousand.

**March 31****st****, 2103:** Mars Capita is founded on the plains of Utopia, several kilometres from the site of the original Mars landing.

**January 1****st****, 2110: **The constitution of the United Earth Government is drafted; the nations on Earth merge into a united entity, beneath a single flag.

**June 2120:** Orbital mining begins in the asteroid belt, to sate the endless demand for resources back on Earth and her colonies.

**April 2165:** The population of the solar system reaches twelve billion inhabitants, with 1.5 billion humans now living on Luna, Mars or in spaceside colonies. Construction of the Panama Space Elevator Begins.

**July 2208:** Oil surveyors examining the Chicxulub Crater on Earth (Site of the asteroid impact responsible for the E.L.E. that wiped out the dinosaurs some 65 million years prior) uncover an alien artifact, later dubbed the Black Marker. Michael Altman, involved with a team of researchers responsible for unlocking its secrets reveals its existence to the public. A short time later under mysterious circumstances, he and most of the research team involved are killed.

**August 2208: **The Black August. Massive riots in dozens of major cities break out in response to the supposed 'assassinations' of the Black Marker research team. Property damage is in the billions, and three thousand are killed across the Solar System. The UEG is unable to successfully quell the riots.

**September 2208: **The Church of Unitology is founded, a sweeping social movement based upon the 'teachings' of Michael Altman. In an era of Atheism, Unitology becomes the fastest spreading religion in known history.

**April 17****th****, 2212:** Hideki Ishimura successfully invents the Shockpoint Drive, an FTL device that opens up the galaxy to humanity. It is considered to be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. The first successful shockpoint prototype, the Athena, travels from Earth to Titan in mere minutes.

**April 18****th****, 2212:** A second test of the Athena, travelling this time from Earth to Alpha Centauri yields a similar result, the journey of four light years is made in just over an hour, prompting massive celebrations across the Solar System.

**April 29****th****, 2212:** Surveys of the Alpha Centauri star system uncovers two Earth-like planets. Arcadia and Utopia, plans for colonization immediately begin.

**July 13****th****, 2225:** Colonial transport Spirit of Paradise suffers a cascading systems failure while shocking to Arcadia. The ship is lost after crashing into the jovian gas giant Nessus, with a loss of all thousand aboard. It becomes the worst space accident in history.

**December 1****st****, 2230:** Terraforming of Mars is completed; a massive exodus from Earth begins.

**September 3****rd****, 2249: **The last drops of Earth's oil are depleted, in the past few centuries; almost all of Earth's non-renewable resources have been depleted, making humanity's homeworld completely dependent on the resources of her colonies.

**January 1****st****, 2260:** on the 150th anniversary of the UEG's inception, the Environmental Sustainability Act is passed; limiting the industrialization of habitable worlds. The construction of the Earth Torus is announced, with plans to transfer all industry off of humanity's homeworld by the dawn of the next century.

**2297:** Unrest in the colonies as more and more resources are routed back to Sol, to fuel extravagant construction projects, such as the ring station in Earth orbit that is now two-thirds complete.

**2308:** The Earth Torus is completed, for the first time in Human history, more than half of all Humans live off of Earth. There are now fifty-billion people living under the flag of the United Earth Government.

**January 1****st****, 2310:** "We live in a time where Earth no longer plays a principal role within human society. It has been two centuries since the drafting of the United Earth Government's constitution, and what have we received? Billions toil so that the few may prosper. We have worked tirelessly for decades to improve life out in the colonies, only to watch as any excess, the extra that could have brought us the same ease and comfort enjoyed on the homeworld, is taken from us. Earth is decadent and corrupt, and for too long we have funded her addictions with our blood and sweat. This is our home! This is ours! Let Sol create something for herself! It is time that we took a stand, and took back what is rightfully our own," – Governor Angela Mereilles, Address to the people of Arcadia.

**February 5****th****, 2310: **The government of Arcadia grounds all transports bound for Earth, protesting the dwindling resources of the colonies, many colonials resent the opulent lifestyle enjoyed by the residents of the Solar System.

**February 6****th****, 2310:** The government of Utopia follows suit, within hours, the governments of a dozen extrasolar colonies cease the free-flow of material back to Sol.

**February 17****th****, 2310:** The UEG sends the Fifth Fleet to Arcadia, intent on restoring the flow of goods to Earth once more. Upon arrival in Arcadia's orbit, the Orbital Defence Platforms open fire, inflicting massive casualties.

**February 18****th****, 2310:** Arcadia declares its independence from the United Earth Government, publicly broadcasting their intent across the wireless. The broadcast reaches billions of viewers before a total communications blackout within the colonies.

**March 2310: **The Resource Wars begin; the colonies of Earth begin to fragment into dozens of factions, all warring between Sol and themselves.

**April 1****st****, 2310: **The Sixth and Seventh Fleets arrive in Alpha Centauri, broadcasting their intent to engage in nuclear bombardment of the colonies should they refuse to surrender. In response, Centauri forces engage the fleet in orbit of the Chiron.

**April 2****nd****, 2310:** Colonial forces are routed, with the Sixth Fleet pursuing into the Centauri Asteroid Belt. The Seventh Fleet enters the orbit of Arcadia. In retaliation for the attack at Chiron, UEG forces launch a nuclear device at Argo City, the orbital terminus of the Argo Space Elevator. The fifty thousand residents aboard the station are all killed. Falling debris causes chaos on the planet below as millions of tonnes of material rain down on the populace, killing thousands more.

The Seventh Fleet is destroyed at the same time across the system after being lead into a trap; a massive colonial fleet, comprised of hundreds of ships from dozens of systems, lay in wait within the Asteroid Belt.

**April 3****rd****, 2310:** The Arcadian Hostage Crisis, the Sixth Fleet, still in orbit of Arcadia threatens to bombard the surface of the planet, home to four billion, with nuclear weaponry should the Colonial fleet enter within three million kilometres of the planet. The fleet retreats to Utopia, and maintains defensive formation over that world.

**April 5****th****, 2310:** Despite continued resistance, the Arcadian government surrenders to UEG forces, two months after the beginning of their insurrection.

**April 15****th****, 2310:** Angela Meirelles is executed for treason, conspiracy, war crimes, crimes against humanity and a host of other charges; she is executed by firing squad.

**April 16****th****-April 22****nd****, 2310:** Mass rioting on Arcadia in the wake of Governor Meirelles' death. UEG forces attempt to maintain control over the cities but are forced to retreat. Large sections of New Athens, the capital, are burned to the ground; thousands are killed.

**2310-2313: **The Resource Wars continue to rage, with control of the colonies trading hands repeatedly between the various factions. Scandal ensues on Earth when it is discovered that a number of corporations have secretly been sponsoring the colonial revolts with fiscal aid and intelligence.

**January 8****th****, 2314:** The CEO's of five of the most powerful corporations on Earth are executed for treason, all corporate assets are frozen, and most of the executive board are imprisoned.

**January 9****th****, 2314:** Black Friday, following the execution of many of Earth's corporate leaders, the Galactic Stock Market crashes amid increasing resource shortages, sweeping famines, and continued disruption to trade throughout the sector.

**June 12****th****, 2314: **Scans of Sol's asteroid belt reveal that it is nearly depleted; vast orbital construction projects, such as the Ring, terraforming of Mars, and the construction of tens of thousands of ships has taken its toll on the mineral wealth of the system.

**July 2314:** Famine sweeps the Solar System as the system population approaches thirty billion. The hundreds of ships in daily transit between the agrarian Mars, and the cosmopolitan Earth can hardly keep up with the demand for food. The UEG steps up its campaign against the colonies, launching increasingly desperate attacks on breadbasket worlds.

**December 5****th****, 2314:** Mineral surveys on Mars detect unusual activity beneath the Prometheus Sea. Originally overlooked during the terraforming operations, the UEG, now desperately attempting to hold the Solar System, begins prospecting at once.

**February 21****st****, 2315:** Mining operations at the Prometheus Sea uncover a ruined scientific facility dated at fifty thousand years of age. Strewn throughout the ruin are highly advanced caches of technology. It soon becomes apparent that the outpost was observing humanity back on Earth.

**March 1****st****, 2315:** The discovery of the Martian Ruins is formally announced by the UEG. Public interest wanes after the revelation that the race responsible for the creation of the Black Marker did not create the ruins on Mars.

**July 15****th****, 2315:** Translated data from the Martian Ruins leads to numerous advancements in the Shockpoint Drive. Originally ship size was limited due to the nature of the propulsion techniques involved, however with new technologies; ships of immense size are now capable of interstellar travel.

**November 14****th****, 2315:** The Fifth Battle of Arcadia results in a decisive UEG victory. Control of the Centauri System once more falls into UEG hands.

**December 5****th****, 2315:** The Concordance Extraction Corporation, a member of the Space Mining Guild, unveils plans for the USG Ishimura, it is hailed as the salvation of mankind and is considered critical to the end of the Resource Wars.

**August 2316:** Construction of the USG Ishimura at the Mars Shipyards begins.

**January 1****st****, 2318:** The USG Ishimura is launched on Unity Day, with a crew of over a thousand, at nearly three kilometres in length she is the largest vessel ever constructed, vastly outstripping the USM Excalibur, the largest battleship in the fleet at eight hundred feet.

**January 3****rd****, 2318: **The USG Ishimura demonstrates its capabilities in the Asteroid Belt, completing within hours work that would take months, if not years of labour. The UEG announces that Sol's resource crisis has come to an end.

**March 2319:** The first planet crack begins on the Vega VI. Initially slated for Io, one of the most geologically active moons in the Solar System, fears of the disruption to the orbits of the Jovian Moons, home to five hundred million; results in an out of Sol test subject.

**September 2319:** Planetcrack of Vega VI yields optimal results. Fleets of ships continuously arrive to retrieve material to take back to Sol. Ship production steps up on the Ring and in the other orbital colonies. Construction resumes on many projects throughout the system, which had been vacant since the rebellion at Arcadia. The UEG begins a defensive strategy of its current holdings, content to let the factions battle amongst themselves. For all intents and purposes, Sol's resource crisis is over.

**November 9****th****, 2319:** First Contact, popularly known as the November Crisis. A Turian Exploratory Fleet arrives at Arcturus, home to several million colonists under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy. Fearing an attack by the UEG, the Confederacy immediately engages the alien forces, who return fire. The sheer numbers of the Confederacy's forces overwhelm the Turians, who flee through the previously undiscovered Mass Relay.

**November 10****th****, 2319:** Confederacy forces contact the UEG with news of the battle at Arcturus, requesting a ceasefire.

**November 13****th****, 2319:** A second Turian Fleet arrives through the Arcturus Relay. Far better prepared, organized, and flaunting superior numbers, the Confedate forces hold back the Turian forces while the colonies are evacuated.

**November 16****th****, 2319: **The Earth Defence Fleet arrives at Arcturus, bolstering the failing defenders. Forces from the numerous factions continue to pour into the system, united against the invading forces.

**November 17****th****, 2319:** The Turians are once again routed, of the hundreds of ships that entered Arcturus space, only three return. Human casualties are relatively low in comparison.

**November 18****th****, 2319:** Unitologists throughout the galaxy protest the attacks against the alien forces, only to be later disappointed that the Turians were not responsible for the creation of their 'holy' Marker.

**November 20****th****, 2319: **The various human factions meet on Arcadia to sign a ceasefire in wake of the bloody first contact.

**November 22****nd****, 2319:** A unified Human Fleet, numbering in the thousands enters the Arcturus Relay, engaging Turian forces in a star cluster hundreds of light years from Earth.

**November 24****th****, 2319:** Human AIs decipher the Turian language. The Solar Parliament contemplates contacting the aliens when the war has brought a period of unity to humanity, and ended nearly a decade of inter-factional conflict.

**November 26****th****, 2319:** Human forces continue to advance through the Turian controlled star cluster.

**November 28****th****, 2319:** Humanity engages the Turians in orbit of the colony world Shan' Xi.

**November 29****th****, 2319:** Turian forces are defeated at Shan' Xi. The Terrans maintain orbit on the world above.

**December 2319:** Turian forces continue to probe the Human foritifications. The fleet sustain orbit above Shan' Xi, while politicians debate back in the core worlds.

**January 1****st****, 2320: **Humanity and its numerous factions are reorganized into the Systems Alliance, a technocratic confederacy. It marks the two hundred and tenth anniversary of the United Earth Government, as well as its demise.

**February 15****th****, 2320:** The human fleet in orbit of Shan' Xi is contacted by the Council, requesting peace talks.

**February 17****th****, 2320:** The newly formed Alliance Cabinet agrees to enter peace talks with the Council. The First Contact War is brought to an end.

**March 12****th****, 2320:** Ambassadors from Humanity arrive at the Citadel.

**2321: **The first human civilians migrate to the Citadel, human populations quickly swell to nearly ten percent.

**2322: **Mass Relays within human territory are activated. Providing a direct link between Human and Citadel Space; the primary means of transportation continues to be the Shockpoint Drive, considered to be far more reliable, efficient, with a speed unmatched by convention Eezo FTL.

**February 2****nd****, 2323:** Planetcrack of Vega VI is completed by the Ishimura. The amount of material recovered is equivalent to all minerals that humanity mined in its entire history.

**July 2323:** In response to the Ishimura's success, construction begins immediately on three new planet crackers for the Space Mining Guilds.

**2330: **Construction of the Sprawl begins from the remnants of Vega VI, the first planet crack. The planetary fragments are towed to Arcturus, to serve as a commercial and military hub at the nexus of several important Mass Relays.

**2330-2350: **The Age of Expansion: With years of conflict finally behind them, Humanity concentrates on expanding its holdings across the Local Cluster. The Citadel Races, dependent upon Mass Effect technology are spread densely across a small number of star clusters. Humanity with its Shockpoint Drive faces no such limitations. New systems are constantly being mapped and claimed in the name of the Systems Alliance.

**2355: **In response to murmurs of discontent within the Human Core worlds, the Space Miners Guild sanctions the colonization of sectors at the terminus of several Relays; planetcracks outside of the Local Cluster face little debate or protest by the Human population. A confidential study of the Vega System concluded that the orbits of several worlds were in decay due to the absence of Vega VI.

**January 1****st****, 2370:** The fiftieth anniversary of the Systems Alliance, human populations throughout the galaxy approach the eighty billion mark.

**February 2375:** The Council files sanctions against humanity, in response to growing criticism of the planetcrack process. Many have concluded that the gravitational disruption posed by the destruction of entire planets will lead to the demise of the systems that Humanity's space mining guilds are prospecting.

**March 2375:** The Space Mining Guilds cease all trade and production in Council Space.

**April 2375:** The Council retracts all statements critical of the planetcrack process. Trade and production resume.

**December 14****th****, 2380:** Miranda Lawson is born in Brisbane, Australia.

**June 5****th****, 2383:** Garrus Vakarian is born on Palaven.

**April 11****th****, 2384: **John Shepard is born on The Ring to Hannah and Nathaniel Shepard.

**June 1****st****, 2384:** C.E.C.'s sixth planet cracker, the USG Castle, enters service. Improving upon the Ishimura's design, she is considered to be the most efficient in the fleet.

**2385:** The USG Ishimura undergoes upgrades at Mars Shipyards.

**May 1****st****, 2388:** Kelly Chambers is born in Armstrong City on Luna.

**2390:** Relations between the Systems Alliance and the Batarian government deteriorate over planet cracking operations throughout the Skyllian Verge. Prior to Humanity's arrival, the Verge had been a Batarian interest. Conflict arose over Human 'strip-mining' practises throughout the sector.

**2392: **Piracy in the Skyllian Verge increases two hundred percent. Almost all targets are Human.

**2392: **Humanity triples its military forces in the Verge, piracy reaches an all time low.

**2395: **Much of Citadel Space falls into a recession; Humans enjoy the highest standard of living in the Galaxy.

**January 1****st****, 2400:** The dawn of the 25th century. The Alliance turns eighty, and is comprised of more than three hundred colonies, and a hundred billion residents.

**August 2****nd****, 2400: **The colony of Mindoir is attacked by Batarian slavers. A small agricultural world providing foodstuffs to the Elysium Sector, its ten thousand inhabitants are either slaughtered or taken captive. Less than a hundred survivors remain on the world in the aftermath.

**September 27****th****, 2400: **Batarian 'pirates' attempt to seize control of the USG Castle, engaged in planetcrack at Teyehron. For the first time since their inception, a Planetcracker engages in combat. Using the Asteroid Defense System, the crew of the Castle quickly defeats the enemy force.

**August 18****th****, 2402:** The Wanat Disaster, three supply ships, a planet-cracker and a C.E.C. colony are lost due to gravity tether failure, with a loss of seventy thousand lives. It is the worst disaster in the history of the planet crack process.

**June 15****th****, 2406: **The Skyllian Blitz. Elysium, one of Humanity's gateway colonies, guarding the Relay to the Inner Colonies; is attacked by a coalition of Batarian and Pirate Forces, numbering in the thousands. Orbital defences are overwhelmed, and Human security is engaged groundside.

**June 17th, 2406: **John Shepard, a systems engineer for the Concordance Extraction Corporation, is credited for saving Elysium; realigning the satellite network, he uploaded an AI Virus into the fleet above, disabling nearly ninety percent of the Batarian force.

**November 2410:** C.E.C. prospectors enter the Aegis System, and begin surveying various planets. The seventh planet shows immense promise, with concentrations of valuable minerals hovering at 60%. Typical concentrations range through the thirties. Colonization of Aegis VII almost immediately begins as the C.E.C. scrambles to claim the world.

**2412: **The USG Ishimura successfully completes its 34th planetcrack, holding the record for the highest number of successful planetcracks, as well as the highest yield of refined prdouct at fourteen trillion kilotons and counting. The ship, at 95, is now one of the oldest serving vessels in human space.

**October 2413:** Present Day.


	3. Another Day at the Office

_**Sam Caldwell: DECEASED**_

_**Race: Human**_

_**Sex: Male**_

_**Height: 6'2"**_

_**Hair colour: Black**_

_**Eye Colour: Brown**_

_**Emergency Contact: Kelly Chambers**_

"Ahhh, _**shit**_..."

Garrus Vakarian slammed his fist against his desk, attempting to dispel the static that had settled across his terminal when his glance had strayed. A few instants of inattention, and the damn thing had gone on the fritz again.

The files on Sam Caldwell and his emergency contact gained prominence once more amidst the haze, and a young red-haired woman smiled back at him, ID listing one Kelly Chambers, aged twenty-five, born 2388 on Luna.

The floor beneath him began to tremble, Garrus' glass of water sloshing its contents across his desk; the woman next to him gripped her desk till her knuckles turned white, fear draining colour from her face. As quickly as it had come, it subsided, lasting a few brief seconds.

She twisted in her chair to face him "Is it over?"

Garrus stood from his chair and made his way to the window, scanning the sky above "Well it looks like the tethers are holding, this should die off soon, I wouldn't worry Nadia."

She leaned forward, gazing at the massive rock suspended above them, a few hundred cubic kilometres worth suspended in space above them by dozens of gravity tethers, a miracle of modern technology, but a fragile one at that.

Garrus grimaced as he recalled the Wanat disaster some eleven years prior, the tethers had failed and the payload, along with a planet-cracker and three supply ships plummeted into the colony below, with a complete loss of life, seventy thousand dead. Not something that he wanted to experience firsthand, and to his knowledge, the tremors they were experiencing were _not_ typical to the process.

"This isn't normal..." Nadia stated quietly, her eyes drifting over the glittering horizon.

"Which part?" Garrus scoffed "The quakes, the murders, the crazies?"

"This didn't happen at Wanat, Secorro, Navarra, Teykin. Hell there's been protests, a few attempts at sabotage here and there, but nothing like this, never anything like this..." she trailed off into silence, as Garrus contemplated how to fill the void in the conversation between them.

The lights of Aegis City stretched out before them, P-Sec Headquarters was among the tallest buildings in the colony, at fifteen floors up their view was nearly unobstructed, the occasional crane or tower blocking their way. In the distance, dagger-like mountains of obsidian cut through the constant storms of the planet, teeth upon a blood red horizon.

And there, like a great wound in the middle of the city, lay the remnants of where the cork had once been; dozens of kilometres across, and thousands of feet deep. The city formed a perfect halo of light around it, staring into it, Garrus found himself entranced, his sharp eyes attempting to pick out detail in the abyss. He could have sworn he saw something moving in the darkness, a chunk of rock casting off from the rim perhaps...

"_...convergence is nigh..._"

"Did you just say something?" he said sharply, turning to his co-worker accusingly.

"No, why?" Nadia gave him a suspicious look, and Garrus already knew what she was thinking "I'm just tired Nadia, I'm not about to go join the Uni's if that's what you're thinking."

Her laugh was strained, and the smile crossing her face didn't reach her eyes "Yeah, well, you go _crazy_, I get a _promotion _now don't I?" she brushed a few strands of blue-dyed hair behind her ear, before turning back to her terminal, which had been flashing with urgency during the past few minutes "Have you been getting messages about some sort of growth in the megave-"

"**OI!**"

Garrus turned quickly to find himself face to face with none other than...

"Well I'll be **damned**. Zaeed Massani! When I requested help from the Ishimura, I didn't realize they had you on board," Garrus grinned, and shook the offered hand "You old bastard, it's been a long time."

He hadn't changed much in the past few years, brown hair shaved close to the scalp, face scarred from past battles, and a cybernetic eye beamed back at him. Decked out in the Ishimura's security uniform, a green jumpsuit with a bulletproof RIG, he didn't look any worse for wear.

"Few years at any rate, how've you been all this time?"

"Was doing pretty damn well up until a month ago, things down here have gone to shit since we found that damn marker, and even worse when Matthius took it away," Garrus shook his head "And you've been sitting over my head for three years and not a damn word?" He gave a mocking pout, leaning up against the desk before his facade was broken by a wide grin "I'm hurt."

"Well maybe if you looked around once in a while you'd notice, stead of being married to your job mate," Zaeed laughed loudly, attracting a few glares and glances, an older woman gave him a long wistful glance before returning to her computer.

"It's been too long, I'm hoping that with you here we can cut through all this bureaucratic bullshit that Captain's sprung up on us, I've been saddled in enough red tape to choke a thresher, and it keeps piling on."

"I'm afraid I'm here on my own little errand at the moment, on behalf of your best friend Matthius. Seems Carthusia isn't willing to give up those bodies, so me and a couple mates from the Ishi came down to try and get this mess sorted out. Probably the most exciting thing I've had to do in the past year and a half," he gave him an apologetic look "Captain's orders, not mine, don't get to pick and choose what I do."

"I'm afraid I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, and it looks like I'm going to have to go down to the mainframe again and recalibrate half the network again," he quickly glared at his terminal, which had reduced itself to a flickering haze of orange light and static once more "As if we didn't have enough to cope with..."

Zaeed stretched lazily, cracking the vertebrae in his neck before turning away "Come on Garrus, it'll be over 'fore you know it, just need you to help us to the Morgue, and we'll be on our way."

Garrus' mandibles flared in an expression that Zaeed had long ago accepted to be the human equivalent of raising an eyebrow, incredulous sarcasm radiated from him "Need a map?"

"No, just the guy in charge, see you've made quite the name for yourself down here, better than Citadel space I'm sure?"

"Isn't everything in the Alliance? How's that commercial go again?"

"Hell if I remember, guess that's why we've got so many kids like you lining up to join in on the party."

Everything around them began to shake at once, terminals flickered, lights swayed, and chairs toppled over as the building shook around them; it was getting worse, not better, and that was certainly not a good sign at any rate, Garrus thought.

"Relax everyone, it's just another tremor, it'll be over in a minute," he clung desperately to a nearby desk, trying with great difficulty not to fall flat on his ass in front of Zaeed, who seemed to be immune to his surroundings, continuing to walk straight past without so much as a swagger "This normal Garrus? Can't say I've ever been on a colony during Planetcrack, but then again this is your first one isn't it?"

"Yeah, it's been happening ever since we popped the cork this morning, hasn't gotten any worse than a five pointer though, so we've been alright. Getting lots of calls from maintenance, whining as usual," he cast a venomous look downward, to the vents hundreds of feet below their feet.

"Really eh? We'll things sure have gone to shit down here now haven't they? Fifty dead in Union Square? And how many other nasty little murders have you had? Heard you had to put down some blighter last week."

"Arson, murder, theft, abuse, insanity... you name it, we've got it. No correlation at all between cases... sex, age, species... they don't seem to factor into it, it's completely random. In the three years," he raised his talons at Zaeed, waving them in front of his grizzled face "_Three years_... we've had a single murder and a handful of assaults. Now this!"

"Well now I'm here, and we'll see about getting all of this sorted out. Give you a bit of breathing room for a while at least," Zaeed gave him a quick slap on the back "Things'll sort out, just you wait an see."

Garrus flicked his mandibles in agitation "Not exactly the kind of breathing room I was looking for."

"Sorry mate, but it's the best we can do, Matthius wants those bodies back onboard yesterday," Zaeed replied with a shrug.

Garrus weaved between his co-workers, making his way towards the lockers that lined the back wall. Moving down the long line, he opened eighty-seven wide, sidestepping as a cascade of paperwork fell out. Giving Zaeed a sheepish glance, he muttered an apologetic "I'm working on it..." before attempting to scoop it all back in.

Zaeed approached the locker with some interest eyes quickly roving over the collage of photos. "Aaah, is that Miss March I see there? Garrus you dog, you do have taste,"

He flicked his eyes up at the Asari stretched lazily across the centrefold, before continuing to rifle through his locker, finally extracting his Divet from beneath the mess.

"Glad to see your skills at organization haven't collapsed over the past few years, tidy as ever eh?" Zaeed remarked, kicking a few stray papers away, and gathering a few angry glares from the woman below, gathering them up and tossing them into the recycling bin.

"It's been a long time, never expected to see you end up on a planet cracker though, and I sure as hell never thought it'd be the Ishimura of all ships, how did you land that job?" Garrus asked curiously, as he grabbed a few odds and ends from his locker.

Zaeed leaned beside him lazily, scarred face twisting into a grin as he prepared to regale his friend with another story "Remember our last little outing on Scorpio VI? Vaejovis City?" Garrus nodded "How could I ever forget? Hot as hell, and I brought half the desert back with me when I shipped home, opened up my case and a pound of sand came out."

"Yeah well anyways, remember that blonde chick? All curves and curls?"

"Yes," Garrus shrugged "What about her?"

"Well turns out her daddy was a frakkin' Uni, _real_ high up in the food chain. Soon as I got back to Sol, I was dragged to the Ring, you know, the big torus round Earth? Had this real posh office, sits me down and gets straight to the fucking point 'I can add another two zeroes on all your cheques.' Now the man knows how to get an audience. See I was prepared to call it quits with the army, have this friend, Vido, makin a killing out near Omega, and he wanted me to join him. Well this guy, Lange was his name, got right to it, says 'You did me a favour, saved my Sarah, now I'm going to do you a favour,' next thing I know I'm sitting on the Ishimura, and it's the best damn thing that's ever happened to me; get paid to sit around and look good for the ladies all day long."

"Well you sure as hell aren't getting any easier on the eyes, better cram in as much time as you can now," Garrus strode towards the door, gesturing to Zaeed to follow "Well come on, I don't have all day," he waved a talon at the door.

"Hold on a sec," Zaeed whistled loudly to three humans in the corner, who quickly made their way over "Garrus, meet the help, help, meet Garrus."

"Bjanka Hutchins, pleased to meet you." The blonde woman drawled in a thick accent, smiling as she extended a hand, Garrus shook it quickly, hoping to get such pleasantries over as soon as possible.

"Djimou Baines," a flash of perfect white teeth stood in stark contrast to his darkened skin, and he seemed intent on crushing Garrus' hand at any rate "Zaeed speaks highly of you."

And finally "Eric Karklins, USG Ishimura Security, it's an honour sir," the youngest of the team said eagerly, hand groping in the air.

Garrus clasped his talons behind his back "Well then," Garrus fixed Zaeed with a glare "We _all _going to the Morgue?" he gave Karklins a pointed look, vainly hoping he'd be left behind.

"No, Baines, Hutchins, you two go prep the shuttle, we'll handle this," Zaeed said curtly, nodding at the other two who quickly made their way out of sight.

"Well come on then," Garrus sighed "Let's head downstairs."

They quickly made their way out into the crowded hallway, the station had become increasingly crowded in the wake of the violence that had beset the colony, more and more people were being called in to give testimonies, or simply to report on the increasingly disturbed occurrences happening throughout the city.

They paused near a row of vending machines as Zaeed considered the candy, fingers crawling up and down buttons before settling on a bag of chips; as he opened the bag, tossing the flakes into his mouth, he deigned to notice Garrus' stare "What?" he said between mouthfuls.

"Probably not a good idea to be eating right before you handle bodies, not the most sanitary thing you could be doing. Just saying."

"Actually," Karklins eagerly interjected "I'm only here because he doesn't want to handle corpses."

Garrus gave his former partner a quick grin "Well, I guess some things never change."

"Laugh it up flap-face," Zaeed crumpled the empty bag, and tossed it towards the nearest garbage bin, missing by a mile.

As they made their way towards the nearest available elevator, a dozen officers quickly stole their place "Hey what's going on?" Garrus called.

A young brunette nearest to the door looked up at him "God damn free-for-all at The Bomb! Whole sector just went into lockdown. Everyone's being called over. It's bad Garrus," and with that the doors snapped shut.

"See what I mean?" Garrus turned to Zaeed "I told you things were crazy down here."

They got into the next elevator, and Garrus quickly hit the switch for the lowest floor "Morgue's in the basement, any further in the ground and it'd be a cemetery."

His comm crackled to life, static filled shouting nearly deafening him "-ET THE HELL DOWN FROM THERE!"

"McCabe?"

"Garrus! Where the hell are you? We've got a riot on our hands down here!" The sound of shrill screaming filled the background of the conversation, punctuated by gunshots and cries for order.

"Where are you? The Bomb?"

"No, the Food Court in Sector Twelve, you?"

"On my way to the Morgue, business with the Ishimura, call Higgins and Bryce."

"You get your ass down here when you're done."

"Will do," and with that the line went dead.

"How far are The Bomb and that Food Court from each other?" Karklins inquired, leaning up against the wall.

Garrus quickly thought in his head, Aegis City formed a perfect ring around the planetcrack crater, divided into thirty-six sectors, each sector taking up approximately four kilometres of the ring's circumference. He did the math quickly in his head.

"About fourteen kilometres on the Tram. Why?"

"Just wondering if they were related, s'all."

"No way they got from the clubs to Twelve in five minutes, even with the tram. There's no way."

The doors to the elevator opened, and they were greeted by darkness. The pale rectangle of light from the elevator cast onto a floor streaked in blood.

"Oh shit..." Garrus whispered; Zaeed and Karklins quickly trained their divets at chest level, peering into the dark. He reached a talon around the frame of the door, feeling blindly for the light switch. His efforts paid off when an instant later the room radiantly lit, every shadow quickly banished.

He did a quick intake as he scanned over the room.

The sterility of the Medical Levels beneath P-Sec had been impressed upon visitors even more by the sheer abundance of white in the decor, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall. Now every wall was coated in a layer of what Garrus could only hope was red paint. Panels along the walls were cast open, violently torn apart, exposing the ventilation behind. A few strips of gore hung from bits of twisted metal where these new egresses lay.

"What the hell? Where the devil are all the bodies?" Zaeed exclaimed, eying the bank of nearly a hundred storage units, where the dozens of dead had been left on ice, waiting to be taken to the ship above, in preparation for their funerals back on their respective colonies. Now all lay empty, blood dripped from some, bits of cloth and hair clung to others, but all were equally vacant.

"Who makes off with nearly a hundred bodies? It's not like they just waltzed out of here, where are they?" Zaeed cast a stretcher out of the way, making his way across the room towards a cluster of overturned desks, a terminal flickering weakly along the wall.

"YOU! What are you doing here?" The doctor stumbled around the corner, his white uniform soaked through in blood "You can't... You can't be in here... This is... NOT YOUR'S!" He swung his scalpel back and forth, drawing crosses in the air as he stumbled towards him, almost drunkenly.

"Daniel, Daniel it's alright," Garrus said softly, raising both arms up "Put the knife down Daniel, nice and easy. We'll get Farah to come an-"

"FARAH! Ha! Hahahaha! Farah? Farah's DEAD! We ATE HER! Hahahahaha! They, they burst through the wall, and they made her whole again! Ha! HAHAHA! MADE HER WHOLE! MADE HER WHOLE! **MAKE ME WHOLE!**" He lunged towards them, a wild smile crossing his face as aimed for Karklins, who froze in fear.

The loud retort of Zaeed's divet filled the air as the Doctor's rib's exploded outwards, blood and bone flecking Karklins horrified face as Daniel's body tumbled forward, knife slipping from his grasp and sliding beneath a desk. He twitched in the blood that pooled around him, still reaching for his weapon, and smiling as he died.

"That. That was..." Karklins stuttered.

"Absolutely fucked is what that was! What the hell were you doing? Freezing up like that? He could have carved his name in your fat skull and you were just staring at him. You have a gun, fucking use it next time!" Zaeed was livid, face reddened with anger as he strode across the morgue to the rookie.

"I'm sorry sir... It, it won't happen again."

"You better hope not, because next time I'll be kicking your ass myself. Now what the hell was that about Garrus?"

"He had the same look in his eye as that kid last week, something in him just snapped."

"I'll say he fucking snapped, do you think he did something with the bodies?"

"Carthusia was the one who didn't want to give up the bodies, and that wasn't him. No, Daniel's a dentist in the clinic next door. There's a whole medical centre that services this sector."

The lights illuminating the room abruptly died, leaving them in darkness.

"The hell?"

"Is this normal?"

Garrus sighed, reaching around his belt for his glow worm, he gave it a quick shake, and the room was filled with a gentle green light, alleviating the darkness somewhat "This day just keeps getting better and better."

They made their way across the room to the elevator "Aahh, shit. Outage must have killed the elevators too."

"Great!" Zaeed exclaimed "No lights, no elevator, _no bodies_, and a colony full of crazy people! What next?"

"Sir? What's going on?" Karklins stuttered, gripping his divet desperately.

"Keep it together private," Zaeed gave him a stern look, before raising a hand to his comm "Sergeant Massani to Ishimura," half a minute went by before he tried again "Come in Ishimura, this is Zaeed Massani in Aegis City. Dammit!"

Garrus gestured to the door at the end of the room "Come on Zaeed, we can go through Medical, it's a bit of a trek, but there's more than one way out of here."

"Just another goddamn day at the office," Zaeed sighed, as he followed.

* * *

**A.N: Well there's Chapter Two done, sorry it took so long, been busy. For those of you who are confused, go get a Wii and play Extraction, it was the best game I played all year. You'll be doing yourselves a favour. Otherwise you'll have to wait a few chapters for Dead Space. It's been a bit of a pain trying to figure out who would have done what in the Dead Space Universe, but Chapter Three will be up soon.**


	4. End of the Line

People were going crazy.

Kelly Lexine Chambers peered down the Tram, warily tracking the man who was carefully stencilling in blood across the windows. He was mumbling to himself, taking his knife to his palm every so often, a fresh torrent of blood soaking into the seats, and pooling on the floor. Fresh ink.

Kelly cringed at the sight, drawing her legs close to her chest. If she moved, he'd see her. If he saw her, she had nowhere to run. She could try to make a break for the next car, hope for help there; or with her luck it would be empty. She could hit the Emergency Button, but the train would brake and she and the driver would then be stuck on the track, kilometres from the nearest station, fifty metres in the air.

She glanced up at the Transit Map, wedged between advertisements "There's Always Peng!" and "Tupari! It's Good For You!" The Route tracked the Train's progress, halfway there. Damn it! She cursed to herself, leaning as far back into her seat as she could, hoping inwardly that the small glass partition that prevented her from falling out the door would keep him from seeing her.

The Tram's circuitous route took them past the dozens of industrial districts of Aegis City, many devoid of life, automated to a degree where human contact was a hindrance. And yet here and there, as Kelly peered down from above, signs of recent violence were visible. A splash of blood, abandoned tote, or crashed lifter. Doubtless more violence. Another Tram quickly flitted by, packed with a thronging mass of people, and was gone from sight.

The man continued to colour the walls, humming to himself.

"_Prescribed pills, to offset the shakes, to offset the pills_..." Oh shit, Kelly cringed, as her PDA continued to belt out its ringtune, announcing loudly that she had an incoming call. She reached into her bag, and quickly began thumbing buttons, hoping to cancel the call.

"Who's there?" The man called, tumbling back from his seat and onto the floor. He began to gaze erratically about the tram before his gaze settled on her, surprise at her appearance across his face "What?" he peered at her "Kelly?" He began to stagger towards her, a genial smile across his gore-spattered face; a torrent of blood streaming from one hand, and a butcher knife in the other.

She glanced at him for recognition, finding none, her eyes flitted to his name-tag, Eric Sallone. She turned to him, smiling; no sudden movements, don't do anything to set him off. Try and calm him down Kelly, he's clearly disturbed. She took a deep breath.

"Eric, I didn't recognize you there for a minute. Haven't seen you in a while, how have you been?" Kelly said in her most reassuring voice, a faint smile quivered on her lips, threatening to turn into a sob. She inched away as he came closer.

"I remember you," he drawled "You're that bitch from the Science Club. Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. You said we had it wrong, that the Marker wasn't safe. Trying to discredit us, make us look stupid. But we have proof. Proof that_ our_ faith, is _real_," he paused for a breathless minute before fixing her with a heart-stopping glare "Can't you hear em' Kelly?"

"Hear who?" she stuttered.

"The voices, Kel, they're tellin' me to make you whole," he flashed a wicked grin before diving towards her, knife raised high.

"Oh God!" Kelly screamed. She dove from her seat, the knife closely following. She scrambled towards next car, Eric watched her retreat for several moments before he pursued. Pacing behind at a leisurely rate, whistling as it were.

She struggled with the door for an instant, wrenching it back and forth in panic before collapsing into the next car. Perhaps she had hoped that he would simply lose interest in her, perhaps once she was out of sight, his unstable mind would forget about her and return to his 'finger-painting'. A wide smile crossed his face as he swung the blade back and forth "Doctor," he laughed "I think there's something in the water."

She screamed in response, running down the train, barrelling between cars. She just had to keep going till they reached the next station, she could see the platform now, crowded with people.

"Fuck!" she'd run out of train, turned to face him.

"End of the line," he sang, advancing forward.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay between chapters, I've been held up lately by a lot of things; primarily the good weather that we've been having. I'll have another chapter up by the end of the week. Sorry for the slow progress, too many distractions, not enough time. Let me know what you think, and any direction, or ideas that you may have for the story. A few reviews help to inspire as well.**

**Listened to a lot of PJ Harvey while writing this segment, her song Rid of Me is worth a listen, spectacular artist.**

**Thanks for reading! New chapter soon.**


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